She rubbed the surface of the pearl that was set in her platinum-collar necklace with the other six stones she'd collected during her awakening, feeling them heat in her hand. "What are you trying to tell me, Pearl?" she murmured to her oracle as the team trudged toward the bank of garages behind the courtyard.
"Look to the one-hundred-and-eight volumes of the Book of Enoch," the pearl said quietly. "Enoch was three hundred and sixty-five years old . . . his words were left out of the traditional Bible and were found by aScotsman , James Bruce, who brought it back from Axum . . . Ethiopia, in the 1800s. These books were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. . . . The angel, Uriel, was his guide. . . . FollowUriel , that angel's name will shelter you while here in Detroit,Damali. . . . Ask Marlene to look up Genesis 5:21-24."
The pearl fell silent as the group gathered in one of the church garages that didn't have vehicles and storage boxes in it. Damali looked at Carlos.
"Okay, now that was the strangest divination Pearl has given me to date."
"Sounds like girlfriend was speaking in code . . . put emphasis on the wordScotsman ," Carlos said, pulling in SWAT uniforms and hurriedly passing them around the team.
"Seal the area with prayer," Damali whispered. She glanced at Carlos."And silver-box it, too. We need to talk."
The team quickly changed without modesty as Marlene set up a barrier and Carlos followed up by closing off the area with a translucent silver seal. As soon as all precautions had been taken, Damali went to the center of the group.
"Zehiradangra is sensitive to anomalies in vibrations . . . so she's not going to just tell us where to go in an open, potentially toxic airspace. Who knows, she might be feeling the same bouts of anxiety and paranoia we felt before J.L. put the filters on our technology, and Heather was leading the seers in the house on a divination where Pearl could have picked up something that freaked her out."
A slight pink blush glowed within the pearl to confirm Damali's suspicions and she nodded. "Z didn't feel comfortable-but this is a Templar safe house . . . it's just occupied so heavily by civilians, we can't use it."
"Okay, quick deconstruction of the code," Carlos said, rubbing his jaw. "The Scotsman reference has to be Father Pat-he's been trying to get a message to me, but he doesn't dare chance telepathy while he's still so weak. Pearl kept slinging a bunch of facts that were just a jumble of rhetoric, even if true.So each one has to be a part of the code."
"Father Pat is the Scotsman," Damali said. "But Enoch's age . . . three hundred and sixty-five is a year." She looked at Carlos."Something's about to jump off within a year, maybe?"
"Okay, and something important was brought out of Ethiopia to here, or knowledge from Ethiopia is something we need to use.One or the other, or both." Carlos rubbed the tension out of his neck. "I hate riddles, I swear I do."
"The name Uriel means God is my light to the east," Valkyrie offered. "I know the names of all the major angels . . . we were taught them in Nod. So this must mean that if we get trapped, try to head east?"
"Maybe," Jasmine said, working a headache away from her temples with graceful fingers. "But it could also mean to call upon that angel at the very end." She glanced at Bobby, who looked pale. "If we are to die here in a last stand, it is good to know which angel will collect our souls."
"We ain't dying down here," Bobby said, growing agitated and walking in a circle.
"Then what the f**k are we doing here in Detroit?" Dan spat. "I don't get it!" He looked around the group, his blue eyes wild. "There's noway I can get you in on the jazz fest docket this late-the group doesn't do jazz, and this thing is being billed as the Rumble in the Great Lakes, okaaay.Some showdown between Chicago and Detroit jazz legends, of which we are neither. But the name of the event gives me the creeps under the circumstances.The Rumble in the Great Lakes! So, right there, I've got a bad feeling about it, and if we're trying to keep a firefight from civilians, this isn't the place to be! Six frickin' stages over four days, out in the open with thousands and thousands of civilians . . . is it just me, or is anybody else concerned?"
"We're not here to play music," Damali said calmly, "so you don't have to get us on the docket. But we know that this is one of the last bastions of positive music, as well as a great fallback city for CGE . . . so their agents of turmoil will no doubt be infiltrating the crowd, trying to get something to pop off, infecting people, whatever. Our goal is to tag one of the little bastards and see if it runs home so we can follow it back to its power center. That strategy worked before when we used it to locate the darkside's heir. But we're not trying to put innocent people in harm's way. However, the crowd also gives us cover to maneuver in day and night.Might take 'em a minute to spot us."
"You don't have to explain shit, D," Carlos said, glaring at the team. "Last I checked this wasn't a democracy. We are functioning military-style. You got a problem with Damali's game plan,then you got a problem with me. No dissention in the ranks, right now. We ain't got time for it."
Marlene stared at Carlos. "Can you bring me a Bible out of the sanctuary pews?"
He nodded and made one materialize in her hands.
She opened the text carefully and found the Scripture Pearl had suggested she read. The group leaned in, but Marlene's eyes filled with tears and she walked to Carlos and hugged him.
"Baby . . . listen to me, no matter what, you can't lose your faith or turn back."
"What, Mar?" Carlos said, breaking her hold on him. "Tell me straight-up. I don't needno surprises right through here."
The older woman sighed heavily and touched his face before going back to the text. "When Enoch had lived sixty-five years, he became father to Methuselah. And after he became father to Methuselah, Enoch walked with God three hundred years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Enoch lived three hundred and sixty-five years. Enoch walked with God,then he was no more, because God took him away." Marlene closed the book.
"Talk to me, Mar," Carlos whispered, swallowing hard. "You're the elder seer on the team . . . you know what you feel in your gut, like I know it in mine-but I need you to say it."
"In the beginning-like Genesis is the beginning-when Father Pat was sixty-five, he met you . . . became like a father to you, baby . . . and you were immortal then . . . like Methuselah would live untold years-and now as a Neteru will live longer than the average human." Marlene let out a hard breath. "My dear, dear friend, Father Pat, really became like a grandfather to this team of sons and daughters, and has the wisdom of a man who has walked with God for three hundred years . . . as a Templar, a warrior . . . he has walked with God a very long time, Carlos. He was badly injured and never fully recovered from that last attack. And, soon . . . God will take him away."
Marlene briefly closed her eyes as the rest of the team members' shoulders slumped. "Do the numerology. One hundred and eight volumes or chapters condenses down to the number nine . . . nine is the end number. Pearl was trying to tell us about beginnings and endings. The Book of Enoch is primarily about the battle between good angels and bad angels, and it also deals with when angels mingled with humankind to produce Titans . . . and the banishment of the fallen angel. We already know who she was referencing there."
Carlos nodded as Damali touched his arm, noting that the pearl in her hand hadblushed a pink affirmation again. "It's cool," he said, lifting his chin and sending his gaze out of the garage windows. "I knew that. Felt it. We got a reprieve. It's the cycle of life, and shit."
"We'll go talk to Father Patrick soon," Damali said quietly.
Carlos didn't answer, just turned his focus to Shabazz.